JP2019525406A - Lighting control - Google Patents

Abstract

A lighting control method and device for controlling the illumination of a space, wherein the pressure of a user input to the input device can be detected and used to control a system of one or more lighting devices. The input may be for a touch screen of a mobile device such as a smartphone or tablet having a pressure sensitive screen. The detected pressure controls the degree to which the lighting effect is applied. The lighting effect may be uniform, such as constant brightness or a specific color, and there may be more complex effects with a mixture of color and brightness parameters across different lighting fixtures. The degree may refer to the number of luminaires to which the effect is applied, or the physical distance to which the effect is applied.

Description

  The present disclosure relates to lighting control, and more particularly, but is not limited to controlling one or more lighting devices using a user interface device.

  “Connected lighting” is not controlled (or not only controlled) by traditional wired, electrical on / off or dimming circuits, but wired networks or more that use digital communication protocols Refers to a system of luminaires controlled via a wireless network. Typically, each of a plurality of lighting fixtures, or individual lamps within the lighting fixture, each receives a lighting control command from a lighting control device according to a wireless network protocol such as ZigBee, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth ( Also, in some cases, a wireless receiver or transceiver may be provided for transmitting status reports to the lighting control device using a wireless network protocol.

  A luminaire may have individually controllable parameters such as brightness and color so that one or more luminaires create an overall light distribution or scene to illuminate an area or space such as a room as desired. May be collectively controlled in a group. Different luminaires and / or combinations of different settings of luminaires can achieve different overall lighting or lighting effects in different areas or spaces, as desired. Rather than having to control individual luminaires, or even individual settings for each luminaire, to achieve the desired effect, groups of settings are stored together in response to the desired light distribution or scene. It is usually preferred. For example, a “morning” scene or a “relaxed” scene can be created. Such a scene can be further controlled by adjusting the parameters of the luminaire or by adjusting the number of luminaires included, thus giving a tailored lighting effect. it can. Thus, it will be appreciated that a number of lighting options will be readily available.

  US 2012/0169616 A1 relates to a method of operating a lighting control console for controlling a lighting system, wherein digital adjustment commands are transferred to the lighting device of the lighting system. The lighting control console includes a display device for drawing graphical elements to the user. The display device presents a touch sensitive sensor surface. The method includes detecting touch on a touch sensitive sensor surface, measuring a dimension of the contact surface, and generating an adjustment command to control the illumination system as a function of the measured dimension of the contact surface; including. Corresponding to this measurement, parameters of the lighting device, for example the illumination intensity of the spotlight, can be set.

  In order to be able to control a large number of variables, it is desirable to provide an effective and intuitive control method and / or interface for the user.

  The lighting system can be controlled using a smart device such as a smartphone or tablet that runs software, applications or “apps”. User commands are typically entered via a touch screen interface. Recent advances in touch screen technology are the introduction of sensors and the sensing of pressure applied to the screen by the user. For background, see http://www.xda-developers.com/how-and-why-force-touch-can-revolutionize-smartphone-interfaces-2/.

  International Patent Application Publication No. 2011/007291 discloses a method for generating a playlist of media objects or modalities based on user input and states that pressure on user input can be detected.

  It would be desirable to use a sensed pressure to provide improved lighting control.

  According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an illumination control method for controlling illumination of a space by one or more illumination devices using a user terminal, wherein a touch input to the user terminal is detected and desired Associating the lighting effect with the touch input; detecting the pressure of the touch input; determining the extent of the desired lighting effect based on the detected pressure; and the desired lighting effect And controlling the one or more lighting devices based on the determined degree of the desired lighting effect.

  In this way, simple and intuitive user input variables can be used to control multiple lighting parameters simultaneously using only a single touch or touch point. By using pressure as an input variable, other input parameters such as the position of the touch on the screen or display, or movement such as swipes, may be used for other control functions (which may optionally be used simultaneously). Can be used.

  In one embodiment, a change in pressure is detected and the degree of lighting effect is changed accordingly. Thus, the degree can be increased or decreased by increasing or decreasing the pressure. It is particularly advantageous to be able to provide bi-directional control using a single contact point input, as exemplified by considering an input that detects the duration of a touch input that cannot be easily reduced.

  In some embodiments, the determined degree is a measure of the distance of the desired lighting effect from the origin in the space. Thus, if an effect has a given illumination over a space or area, the effect is controlled to be selectively applied over the area starting from the origin and extending or spreading into the space or area. Can be done. The illumination parameter representing the effect can be applied selectively and progressively correspondingly depending on the detected pressure of the input. The origin may be predetermined, for example, by a separate input or as a default value, or may be determined based on detected touch input.

  In some embodiments, the determined degree is the number of lighting devices that are controlled to produce the desired effect. Thus, by increasing or decreasing the pressure, the number of luminaires used to create or contribute to the effect can be increased or decreased.

  In one embodiment, the desired lighting effect is defined by a predetermined set of values of at least one lighting parameter for the one or more lighting devices. Possible lighting parameters include brightness, intensity, color, saturation, color temperature, or parameters that define dynamic effects.

  Thus, in examples where a parameter is attributed or assigned to a lighting device or luminaire as part of an effect, it is understood that the degree to which the parameter is output by the device can be controlled according to the determined degree. Will. Thus, the degree may be defined by one or more weighting factors for one or more luminaires based on the detected pressure applied to the lighting parameters of the desired lighting effect. If a particular luminaire is to be controlled to a lesser or lesser extent, is in an area, or provides an illumination of an area, the weighting factor is, for example, a fraction or zero. Also good. The weighting factor may be increased as the degree is increased to a maximum value of 1 (reflecting an increase in the detected pressure).

  An example where the degree is the number of luminaires may be considered equivalent to a selective application of a binary weighting factor of 0 or 1 in some cases.

  In one embodiment, the user terminal may comprise a display, such as a touch screen, on a smart device such as a smartphone, watch or tablet, and may provide a graphical user interface (GUI). However, it should be understood that a display is not required and that the pressure of user input can be detected by a user terminal that does not include a display. For example, a pressure sensitive panel such as a wall panel or a switch may be used.

  If the user terminal includes a display, in one embodiment, the method may further include displaying one or more graphical objects representing the one or more lighting devices on the display of the user terminal. The display may be, for example, a touch screen on a smart device such as a smartphone or tablet, and may provide a graphical user interface (GUI). The position on the display of user touch or pointer input relative to the position of one or more of the graphical objects may be used to provide lighting control, and thus in one embodiment, the position of the touch input is detected. Also good. The position may be a static position, or the position may be dynamic, representing touch input movement, eg, drag or swipe input.

  The position of the graphical objects on the display may, by way of example, represent the actual spatial position of the lighting devices they represent, or the spatial position of the light output of such device (or devices). This helps the user visualize the lighting effect and allows the user a more intuitive interface to control the lighting effect. Additional objects representing the space, such as walls, furniture or other features, may also be displayed for reference.

  In one embodiment, the position of the touch input may indicate an origin where the degree of lighting effect is measured. Additionally or alternatively, the distance from the graphical object to the location of the touch input may in one embodiment be used in determining the weighting factor as described above.

  By using position and pressure to control the effect, in particular the degree or spread of the effect, multiple lighting parameters representing sophisticated effects can be controlled simultaneously simply and intuitively. .

  According to a further aspect of the present invention, a lighting control device for controlling a system of one or more lighting devices, comprising a user interface including a display, wherein the touch input is detected and the pressure of the touch input is determined. A user interface configured to detect; a processor configured to associate a desired lighting effect with the touch input and determine a degree of the desired lighting effect based on the detected pressure; and the desired lighting A lighting control device is provided comprising a communication interface configured to output a control signal for the one or more lighting devices based on an effect and the determined degree of the desired lighting effect.

  According to a still further aspect of the invention, providing a GUI on a pressure sensitive display, receiving a touch input to the GUI, and associating a desired lighting effect with the touch input, the lighting effect comprising: A step defined by a set of predetermined values for at least one lighting parameter for one or more lighting devices, and sensing of the touch input such that a sensed pressure variation changes the degree of the lighting effect. A computer-implemented lighting control method is provided that includes weighting the predetermined value based on measured pressure and outputting the weighted value to the one or more lighting devices.

  In one embodiment, weighting the predetermined value is based on the position of the touch on the GUI. In a further embodiment, the method further comprises displaying one or more graphical objects representing the one or more lighting devices on the GUI, wherein the weighting is relative to the position of the touch on the GUI. Based on the position of the object.

  The present invention also provides a computer program and a computer program product for performing any of the methods described herein and / or embodying any of the features of the apparatus described herein, and A computer readable medium having stored thereon a program for performing any of the methods described herein and / or embodying any of the features of the apparatus described herein.

  The present invention extends to methods, apparatus and / or uses substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  Any feature in one aspect of the invention may be applied to other aspects of the invention, in any suitable combination. In particular, features of method aspects may be applied to apparatus aspects and vice versa.

  In addition, features implemented in hardware may generally be implemented in software, and vice versa. References to software and hardware features herein should be construed accordingly.

Preferred features of the invention will now be described purely by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
An example of lighting system equipment is shown. 1 schematically shows an illumination system. Fig. 4 shows data representing lighting settings for an exemplary scene. Fig. 4 illustrates a user interface device. A lighting control method and interface are shown. It is a graph which shows the brightness | luminance according to a pressure. It is a graph which shows control of a weighting coefficient. Fig. 4 illustrates further examples of lighting control methods and interfaces. It is a flowchart which shows a control method. The processing architecture is shown.

  FIG. 1 is occupied by one or more people in an environment 102, for example, an indoor space such as a room, an outdoor space such as a garden or park, or a partially covered space such as a gazebo, or the interior of a vehicle. Fig. 2 shows a lighting system installed or arranged in any other space that can be done. The lighting system includes one or typically multiple lighting devices (or luminaires) 104, each illuminating device (or luminaire) comprising one or more lamps (illumination emitting elements) and associated housings, sockets. And / or a support, if any. LEDs may be used as illumination emitting elements, but other alternatives such as incandescent lamps, for example halogen lamps, may be used. The luminaire 104 is a lighting device that emits light at a scale suitable to illuminate the environment 102 that can be occupied by the user. For example, the luminaire 104 may be a ceiling-mounted luminaire such as a spotlight or wall washer, a wall-mounted luminaire, or a free-standing luminaire such as a floor lamp or table lamp (each of which is not necessarily of the same type). It does not have to be).

  The user can control the lighting system via a user terminal such as the wall panel 106. Alternatively or additionally, a mobile user terminal 108 may be provided to allow a user to control the lighting system. This is typically in the form of a smartphone, watch, tablet, etc. that executes the application or “app”. Either or both of the wall panel and the mobile user terminal may be pressure sensitive to detect the applied pressure. A user terminal is a touch screen or point configured to allow a user (eg, a user residing in environment 102 or remotely located in the case of a mobile terminal) to provide user input to a lighting control application. A user interface such as an and click interface may be included. The user may also be able to control an individual luminaire or a system of connected luminaires by directly interfacing with the luminaire, such as in the case of a desk lamp.

  Referring to FIG. 2, an example of a lighting system is schematically shown. The user terminal 206 connects to the luminaire 204 via an intermediate device 210 such as a wireless router, access point, or lighting bridge. The user terminal 206 may be, for example, the wall panel 106 of FIG. 1, and the intermediate device may be integrated into the wall panel or provided as a separate device. User terminal 208 is a mobile user terminal, such as terminal 108 of FIG. 1, and may be connected to the luminaire via device 210, but additionally or alternatively, connected directly to the luminaire without an intermediate device. May be. The connection between devices may be wired using a protocol such as DMX or Ethernet, or may be wireless using a network protocol such as ZigBee, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. . The luminaire may be accessible only via the device 210, only directly from the user terminal, or both.

  For example, the user terminal 206 may connect to the intermediate device 210 via a first wireless access technology such as Wi-Fi, while the device 210 is illuminated via a second wireless access technology such as ZigBee. It may be connected to the instrument 204. In this case, the intermediate device 210 converts the lighting control command from one protocol to another.

  Device 210 and user terminals 206 and 208 include a functional group schematically indicated by dashed lines and labeled 212. This functional group may further be connected to a storage device or server 214, which may be part of a network or the Internet, for example. Each element of group 212 may include memory or have access to storage functions that may be provided by a storage device or server 214. The lighting fixture 204, or at least some lighting fixtures 204, also includes a memory.

  With this configuration, the input of user commands at the user interface of the user terminal 206 or 208 and the corresponding control signal to the appropriate luminaire for changing the lighting (eg, recalling a specified scene). Transmission is possible.

  The lighting settings can be created by the user by individually adjusting or programming the lighting fixture parameter settings. For example, a user can manually adjust one or more luminaires in a room, perhaps via input at the wall panel 106 or via a mobile user terminal such as 208. Luminance and / or color values can be changed until the user is satisfied with the overall effect. The user can then enter instructions on the user terminal to save the current settings, and typically assign a name or ID to the created scene. The lighting settings may be obtained from an external source such as the Internet, for example.

  Depending on the information collected about environmental conditions near the system, the lighting can be controlled or the control can be enhanced. For example, the ambient light level can be used to automatically adjust the output of the luminaire or to program specific settings. Information about the time and whether one or more people are present may be used to control the lighting output based on a predetermined setting or value, or a combination of such settings, and in some cases The identification information (identify) may also be used. Such environmental conditions or information can be used by terminal 206 or 208 and / or device 210 to allow at least some automation in controlling the output of luminaire 204. If desired, automatic control of settings can be enhanced or overwritten by manual input.

  In one embodiment, the sensor or sensor interface 216 provides input or sensed environmental information information to one or more elements of the functional group 212. For example, the sensor may include a light sensor, a PIR sensor, and / or an RFID sensor. A clock input may also be provided to provide the current time. Such sensors can be placed in or around the environment 102 of FIG. 1, and can be mounted, for example, on a wall or ceiling. In one embodiment, the sensor may be integrated into any lighting fixture 104. Additionally or alternatively, terminal 206 or 208, or device 210 may include sensors to provide such information, particularly in the case of a mobile terminal, for example in the form of a smartphone.

  FIG. 3 shows data representing the lighting settings for a given scene.

  The data indicates parameter values corresponding to different lighting for a given scene. In this example, the lighting system includes five individually addressable lighting fixtures, but a particular scene, eg, scene X, requires only three lighting fixtures numbered 1, 2, and 4. For each of these lighting fixtures, a luminance value and a color value are provided. The effect value is an example of a possible further parameter that may be included but not used in this example. The luminaires 3 and 5 are not used and therefore the parameter values of these luminaires are not included for this scene.

  It will be appreciated that although single values for luminance and color are given here as simplified examples, different embodiments may use different values or combinations of values to represent the parameters. I will. For example, the color may be represented by three values of RGB or L * a * b * color space.

  For example, in one example of a typical user operation for recalling settings for use, the user can view a list of possible settings on a smartphone that functions as the mobile user terminal 108. Using the touch screen interface on the smartphone, the user can scroll through and select a specific setting or scene identified by name or ID and apply the scene.

  FIG. 4 shows a user interface of a mobile user terminal or device, such as terminal 208. In this example, the mobile device is a smartphone 420 and includes a screen or display 422 that displays a window 424 that includes header bars 426 and graphical objects such as 428 and 430.

  The screen or display is a touch screen and can detect a user's touch indicated by hand 432. However, the touch may be with any type of pointer, such as a stylus. A touch screen is a touchdown or touch-on when the user first touches the screen, a move when the pointer is moved along the screen while maintaining contact with the screen, and the pointer touches the screen. User input such as lift or touch-off when lost can be detected.

  Further, by way of example, a user interface such as touch screen 422 can detect the pressure of the touch. This effectively provides an additional dimension for user input. Pressure detection may be multivariable detection, providing a substantially continuous scale of detected pressure, or attribute a range of pressures to a single value or input, Discrete detection may also be used. As an example, binary pressure detection provides only two values of pressure to be sensed that can be considered a “light” press and a “strong” press. Such a binary value may be defined by a threshold pressure, and a “strong” press is defined as a touch having a pressure above the threshold pressure. A calibration process may be used so that the user can define a threshold or range of values due to the detected pressure. In this way, different pressures applied by different people can provide the same detection value based on their respective calibrations.

  The window 424 is output by execution of a program or application (“app”) running on the mobile device. A header bar 426 may be provided to identify a running application and optionally provide control associated with the application. Objects such as objects 428 and 430 are provided in the main portion of the window and represent lighting devices or fixtures of the lighting system. Multiple different types of luminaires may be represented, where two different types are indicated by differently shaped objects 428 and 430. The user can control the output of the lighting device by providing input to the interface in the form of a touch operation on the touch screen 422.

  In the example of FIG. 4, a touch on device 420 or device display 422 indicates a parameter or set of parameters to be applied to a lighting device in the system. The parameter may be, for example, brightness or color, or a combination of such parameters. FIG. 5 shows how the detected pressure of the touch on the display 422 is used to control the degree to which one or more parameters are applied to the lighting device of the system.

  Referring to FIG. 5, an exemplary window 520 corresponding to the window 420 of FIG. 4 is shown, where the position marked with X540 indicates the position of the touch or touchdown detected by the mobile user device. The touchdown action is associated with a parameter or set of parameters for controlling the output of the lighting device, the determination or selection of these parameters being a prior user action, such as menu selection, or any such as returning to default values Other suitable means may be used.

  The device detects the pressure of the touch, which is schematically indicated by dashed rings 542 and 548. The size of the ring (i.e. radius or diameter) reflects the pressure and represents an increase in pressure as the size increases.

  Here, the ring is shown for illustrative purposes only to indicate a change in pressure, but in one example, feedback is provided to the user to indicate that pressure or a change in pressure is being applied. Can. Visual feedback is one possibility, and the illustrated ring is an example, but other visual devices or objects imitate radial lines or arrows, or display bending or flexing. It may be used to indicate pressure to the user, such as deformation effects. The feedback may be provided via an object representing the lighting device that indicates the light output of the lighting device in response to a user input pressure. The pressure feedback may additionally or alternatively be non-visual, such as tactile or audio feedback.

  Objects 546 and 550 represent lighting devices in the system and are shown at positions at different distances from the position of touch 540. As described in more detail below, the position of the object may represent the actual position of the corresponding lighting device in the real world, or is presented in another configuration, for example to facilitate control by the user. Also good.

  The low pressure touch is used to selectively apply the determined or selected lighting parameters to the lighting device represented on the display at a corresponding short distance from the position of the touch. For example, with the pressure represented by ring 542, only the device represented by object 546 is controlled with the relevant parameters, and the device represented by the object at a greater distance is unaffected. However, as the pressure is increased, the device represented far away from the touch point on the display is gradually affected or controlled, and at the pressure corresponding to the ring 548, the device corresponding to the object 550 is also an associated parameter. Be controlled.

  FIG. 6 shows a graph that more clearly illustrates the effect of the interface described above in connection with FIG.

  In the example of FIG. 6, the lighting parameter to be controlled is brightness, and a touch on the user interface is specified for a lighting system in which the default or existing state of the device is off, ie, the brightness is zero. Is used to set the brightness value. Accordingly, in FIG. 6, luminance is plotted against pressure. The first plot 620 represents the brightness of the device corresponding to the object 546 of FIG. 5 (referred to as device J for simplicity), and the second plot 630 is the device corresponding to the object 550 of FIG. (Referred to as device K in order to achieve this).

  Considering the touch applied to the interface at point 540 in FIG. 5, the pressure increase is shown to move along the horizontal axis in FIG. 6, and in this example, for the dashed ring shown in FIG. It can be considered equivalent to an increase in diameter. As the pressure increases to the value 608, device J is turned on and as the pressure increases further, the brightness of device J increases linearly to point 610. When the pressure reaches the value 610, the brightness of device J is at a set level due to touch. Increasing the touch pressure does not change the brightness of device J, which remains constant. However, when the applied pressure reaches the value 612, device K is turned on, and further increasing the pressure similarly increases the brightness of device K linearly.

  Thus, a single touch operation of the user can control the brightness of the two devices J and K in two different ways, the difference being that the touch point 540 is relative to the position of the objects 546 and 550 on the user interface. It is a reflection of the position. At each position of pressure indicated by the vertical line on the graph of FIG. 6, two different brightness values are assigned to devices J and K (however, by further increasing the pressure, both devices are attributed to touch. It is possible to operate at a set level).

  In the above, the effect of increasing pressure and brightness has been described, but control can also be made equivalent by decreasing the pressure of the touch. In this case, the vertical line indicating the current pressure level can be thought of as moving to the left when looking at FIG. 6, and the brightness of each device is obtained by following the intersection on traces 620 and 630 from right to left. Given.

  It will be appreciated that changing the position of the touch point may change the response of the lighting device to increasing or decreasing pressure. For example, by first touching down at point Y labeled 544 in FIG. 5, a light pressure touch first applies control to device K and increases pressure to extend control to device J. Is needed.

  It will thus be appreciated that the effect or degree of control of the lighting device of the system is a function of the applied pressure and the position of the corresponding object from the touch point on the user interface. This is illustrated in FIG.

  FIG. 7 is a graph in which control parameters are plotted with respect to the distance from the touch point on the user interface. The control parameter may be used to control the degree to which a given lighting parameter is applied, for example a weighting factor or a multiplier, and controls the degree to which a given lighting effect is applied to a given lighting device. can do. Three plots 780, 782 and 784 are shown, each representing the relationship between control parameters and distance for a constant applied pressure. Different plots represent different pressures, and the pressure increases as indicated by the dashed arrow 786. It can be seen that when the distance is constant, the control parameter increases as the pressure increases, and when the pressure is constant, the control parameter decreases as the distance increases.

  In this example, the plot is linear, but non-linear forms including exponential or quadratic relationships and stepwise, discrete or quasi discrete relationships are possible as well. For example, the control parameter may be compared to a threshold for the lighting device, which may be switched between two (or more) discrete states depending on the result of the comparison. Thus, in one example, the control parameter can function as an on / off switch for applying lighting effects. The threshold may be the same for all devices in the system, may vary from device to device, or may vary between groups of devices. Thus, the degree of effect can be regarded as the number of lighting fixtures or lighting devices that receive the effect.

  Equal pressure increments may result in uniformly distributed plots (equal spacing between plots) and non-uniform relationships may be observed. Further, the slope and / or shape of each plot may change as the pressure changes. That is, the relationship between control parameters and distance may change as the pressure changes.

  Although the above description assumes a stationary touch, the touch position can also be moved on the interface to dynamically change the control of the lighting devices of the system. This may take the form of a “swipe” or “drag” operation on the touch screen. As the position of the touch moves, the relative distance to various objects changes, so that the control effect corresponding to the parameter also changes. Corresponding changes to the degree of application of the lighting effect can be understood by considering the movement of the points in the horizontal direction (for a constant pressure) across the graph of FIG.

  Thus, control is provided by three-dimensional, i.e., movement in the plane of a two-dimensional display device or touch screen, and third-dimensional pressure, which allows multiple devices to be easily and intuitively controlled. Is possible.

  In the above example, the position of the object on the display may not actually correspond to the position of the corresponding luminaire of the lighting device. Instead, locations are assigned to give greater control, for example, to "group" multiple devices by providing their corresponding objects in the same location on the user interface. Also good. In one example, all objects can be folded into a single point, and the distance of touch to the object can be effectively invalidated. In such an example, the control is one-dimensional and only pressure fluctuations affect the lighting output. This is the case, for example, when low pressure touches (regardless of the position of the screen or user interface) generate a low level of illumination, and increasing the pressure increases the level or intensity of illumination of a luminaire or group of luminaires It may be used in the night mode.

  In a further example, control can be performed independently of the position of the touch by effectively defining a default position. For example, in a bedroom, the bed position, or one side of the bed, may be defined as the default position for the night mode, only the pressure of the touch input is determined, and that position is automatically assigned to the default position. In such an example, a light pressure touch provides illumination near the bed (called a bedside lamp) and as the pressure increases, for example, the opposite bedside lamp, ceiling light on the bed, And gradually in other rooms, such as hall lights, the brightness or lighting may increase with increasing distance from the bed.

  Furthermore, placing objects at locations on the interface that do not correspond to their location in space can result in more interesting and unexpected lighting patterns.

  However, in some instances it may be beneficial for objects on the user interface to be positioned so that they correspond to the actual positions of the corresponding luminaires.

  FIG. 8 shows a display example of the user interface. The bounding rectangle 860 represents the wall of the room, and objects such as 870 and 872 representing the luminaires are shown corresponding to the location of these luminaires in the room. A user touch is provided at position 840, indicated by X, and the touch is associated with lighting parameters to achieve a desired lighting effect.

  In the above, illumination parameters such as brightness or color are given as examples. However, further parameters such as saturation, intensity, and temperature, and combinations of these parameters can be controlled as described above. In the above example, the parameters associated with the touch input were uniform, such as a specific brightness or color, but as described below, effects having different parameters for different lighting fixtures or lighting devices are defined. May be.

  In the example of FIG. 8, the room is divided into three sections 862, 864, and 866, as indicated by the horizontal line, and the effect to be applied is that the luminaires in each section have different colors, eg, flag Red, white and blue are used to give an effect. Thus, the effect can be viewed as a “mask” or “scene” as described above. Thus, if the effect is applied to a luminaire 872, the luminaire 872 is controlled to provide a red illumination output, and if the same effect is applied to the luminaire 874, the luminaire 874 provides a blue illumination output. To be controlled.

  Considering the touch applied to the location 840 with low pressure applied, this selectively applies effects to the luminaire 870, and as the pressure is increased, the increasing diameter of the dashed ring As shown, the effect is applied progressively to a luminaire far from point 840.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a lighting control method including some of the steps outlined above.

  In step S902, a touch input to a user terminal such as a wall panel or a mobile device is detected. In step S904, the lighting effect to be controlled by touch input is determined. This may be determined based on the detected input, based on a separate input or a prior input, or may be a default effect, for example.

  Thus, it will be appreciated that a lighting scene or mask can be “spread” from a selected location into a room or space under control. As described above, the control can increase or decrease the spread by increasing or decreasing the pressure, and the “center” point or source of the spread can be selected or moved according to the position of the touch on the display or interface. Can be done.

  Similar to both uniform and non-uniform static effects, dynamic effects can also be controlled. The dynamic effect may be, for example, flashing or pulsing and a change in one or more illumination parameters over time.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a lighting control method including some of the steps outlined above. In step S902, an initial step of providing a user display is optionally performed. However, a user display may not be possible or necessary, or may already be available, for example. The display typically includes a display object that represents the lighting device of the lighting system, for example, as shown in FIGS.

  In step S904, a touch input to a user terminal such as a wall panel or a mobile device is detected. User terminals typically but not always include a touch screen to provide a user interface. Detection of touch input typically will detect the location or position of the touch on the user interface. In step S906, the lighting effect to be controlled by touch input is determined. This may be determined based on the detected input, optionally via a separate user terminal or user interface, based on a separate or prior input to the system. Alternatively, the effect may be determined by other inputs to the system, such as sensor inputs or time / date inputs, or may be a default effect.

  In step S908, the pressure of the touch input is detected using, for example, one or more pressure sensors in the user terminal. Optionally, in step S910, detected pressure feedback is provided to the user, eg, by visual, audible or tactile means.

  In step S912, based on the determined lighting effect and the detected touch input and associated pressure, control parameters and the lighting device to which these parameters are to be applied are determined. In the above examples, this determination is performed by taking into account parameters related to the lighting effect, the origin of the effect, and the degree of the effect. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, the degree may be expressed by a control parameter.

  Finally, in step S914, the determined parameters are applied to the appropriate lighting device to provide the desired lighting corresponding to the input (or multiple inputs).

  FIG. 10 illustrates a processing architecture in which a user terminal such as terminal 208 or mobile device 420 may be implemented. A bus 1002 connects components including a ROM 1006, a RAM 1004, and a CPU 1008. The bus 1002 also communicates with a communication interface 1010, which provides an output and can receive input from an external network such as a lighting network or the Internet. User input module 1012 is also connected to the bus. User input module 1012 may comprise a pointing device, such as a touchpad, configured to detect the pressure of the input using, for example, one or more pressure sensors. A display 1014 such as an LCD, LED or OLED display panel is also connected. Display 1014 and input module 1012 may be integrated into a single device, such as a touch screen, as indicated by dashed box 1016. For example, a program stored in RAM or ROM may be executed by the CPU to allow the user terminal to function as a user interface for controlling a lighting network that may be connected, for example, via the communication interface 1010. The user can interact with the user terminal to provide one or more inputs to the module 1012, which can be taps, swipes or other control devices using a finger or other pointer on the touch screen. It may be in the form of an interact. Such input is received and processed by the CPU, and the output is provided to the lighting system (which may be directly connected or part of an external network) via the network interface 1010. Visual information and feedback may be provided to the user by updating the display 1014 in response to the user input (or multiple user inputs).

  It will be understood that the present invention has been described above purely by way of example, and modifications of detail can be made within the scope of the invention. Each feature disclosed in the specification, and (where appropriate) the claims and drawings may be provided independently or in any appropriate combination.

  Various exemplary logic blocks, functional blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with this disclosure include general purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). ) Or other programmable logic device (PLD), discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform one or more of the functions described herein, optional In particular, it may be implemented or executed using a combination with instructions stored in memory or storage media. The described processor, such as CPU 1008, may be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, or as a plurality of microprocessors, for example. Conversely, separately described functional blocks or modules may be integrated into a single processor. The method or algorithm steps described in connection with the present disclosure, such as the method illustrated by the flowchart of FIG. 9, may be embodied in hardware, software modules executed by a processor, or a combination thereof. . A software module may reside in any form of storage medium that is known in the art. Some examples of storage media that can be used include random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), flash memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, removable disk and CD-ROM.

  Other modifications to the disclosed embodiments can be understood and attained by those skilled in the art in practicing the claimed invention, from a study of the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims. In the claims, the word “comprising” does not exclude other elements or steps, and the indefinite article “a” or “an” does not exclude a plurality. A single processor or other unit may fulfill the functions of several items recited in the claims. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measured cannot be used to advantage. The computer program may be stored / distributed on any suitable medium, such as an optical storage medium or solid medium supplied with or as part of other hardware, but the Internet or other wired or wireless It may be distributed in other forms such as a telecommunication system. Any reference signs in the claims should not be construed as limiting the scope.

Claims (14)

A lighting control method for controlling illumination of a space by a plurality of lighting devices using a user terminal, wherein each lighting device is an individual lighting fixture, and the method includes:
Detecting a touch input to the user terminal and associating a desired lighting effect with the touch input;
Detecting the pressure of the touch input and determining the degree of the desired lighting effect based on the detected pressure;
Controlling the plurality of lighting devices based on the desired lighting effect and the determined degree of the desired lighting effect;
Including
The method wherein the determined degree of the desired lighting effect is the number of lighting devices of the plurality of lighting devices that are controlled to produce the desired lighting effect.   The method of claim 1, wherein detecting the pressure includes detecting a change in pressure and changing the degree of the desired lighting effect based on the detected change in the pressure. .   The determined degree of the desired lighting effect is a measure of the distance of the desired lighting effect from an origin in the space, the desired lighting effect starting at the origin and according to the distance measure. 3. A method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the method extends or extends into space.   4. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the desired lighting effect is defined by a predetermined set of values of at least one lighting parameter for the plurality of lighting devices.   The method of claim 4, wherein the at least one parameter includes at least one of a parameter defining brightness, color, saturation, color temperature, or dynamic effect.   Controlling the plurality of lighting devices includes determining a parameter value based on the predetermined value and determining a weighting factor based on the detected pressure of the touch input. The method according to 4 or 5.   7. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising displaying one or more graphical objects representing the plurality of lighting devices on a display of the user terminal.   Detecting the touch includes determining a position of the touch on the display, and the weighting factor is a graphical object representing a lighting device from the determined position of the touch on the display. 8. A method according to claim 7, when dependent on claim 6, based on distance.   Detecting the touch includes determining a position of the touch on the display, and the origin in the space is determined based on the determined position of the touch on the user interface. 8. A method according to claim 7, which is dependent on claim 3. A lighting control device for controlling a system of a plurality of lighting devices, wherein each lighting device is a separate luminaire,
A user interface configured to detect touch input and to detect pressure of the touch input;
A processor configured to associate a desired lighting effect with the touch input and determine a degree of the desired lighting effect based on the detected pressure;
A communication interface configured to output control signals for the plurality of lighting devices based on the desired lighting effect and the determined degree of the desired lighting effect;
With
The lighting control device, wherein the determined degree of the desired lighting effect is the number of lighting devices of the plurality of lighting devices that are controlled to produce the desired lighting effect. The processor is
Configured to provide a GUI on the user interface;
Configured to obtain a predetermined value set of at least one lighting parameter for the plurality of lighting devices, the predetermined value defining the desired lighting effect;
Configured to weight the predetermined value based on the detected pressure of the touch input such that a variation in detected pressure changes the degree of the desired lighting effect;
The lighting control device of claim 10, configured to output a weighted value to the plurality of lighting devices via the communication interface.   The lighting control device of claim 11, wherein the processor is configured to perform the weighting based on a position of the touch on the GUI.   The processor is configured to display one or more graphical objects representing the plurality of lighting devices on the GUI, and the weighting is performed based on the position of the object relative to the position of the touch on the GUI. The lighting control device according to claim 11 or 12.   A computer program comprising instructions that, when executed on a lighting control device according to any one of claims 10 to 13, cause the lighting control device to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

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